


Sleight

by Preussenlied



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M, Navia brotp, One Shot Collection, spy AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2019-08-26 17:35:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16686052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Preussenlied/pseuds/Preussenlied
Summary: Gray Fullbuster, Juvia Lockser, and Natsu Dragneel make up the three best field agents that Fairy Tail, Fiore's best top secret intelligence agency, has to offer. Follow the three as they take on various missions together through a series of related one-shots.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> You all have no idea how much I love spy/agent stuff, and I really needed a sexy spy AU. So I wrote one. I may continue it in sort of a one-shot book all in the same universe as opposed to an actual fic, but we'll see! I just loved writing this so much!
> 
> This is Gruvia, but there is a Navia moment just for the sake of the mission they're on. It's what inspired this fic, so... yeah. It's all explained in the fic!
> 
> Enjoy! Let me know what you think!

The silver dress shimmered with each sway of her hips under the grand chandeliers hanging overhead. The eyes she felt on her gave her confidence, as despite the room being full of people, she knew exactly who was eyeing her so closely.

" _Your staring's pretty obvious, popsicle._ "

" _Shut it, pinkie._ " A smile graced her lips at the argument that sounded through the miniscule earpiece lodged within her right ear, and she graciously accepted a flute of champagne from a nearby server.

The three Fairy Tail field agents were currently at a grand party in Crocus, pursuing one Ivan Dreyar. Not much is known to them about Dreyar, other than that he is a rather low profile international criminal interested in gaining access to a high-power radioactive substance known as Ethernano. Such a chemical has been outlawed for many years and the overall production had been ceased once it was discovered how dangerous Ethernano could be. However, more diluted versions of it were known to be created, and as a result it wasn't nearly as powerful, but Dreyar was determined to recreate the original recipe.

So when Fairy Tail's top analyst, Lucy Heartfilia, discovered through hard-studied intel that the man was going to be in Crocus attending a party hosted by another well-known criminal, Bora, she was quick to report to the chief. And so, the three best field agents the agency had to offer were sent off to the city to bring him down once and for all. Hopefully.

Gray Fullbuster and Natsu Dragneel had been partners for years, and although they butt heads quite often, they always managed to get the job done. However, after her promotion to chief, their former partner Erza Scarlet decided that the duo needed to remain a trio, and would replace herself with someone else. The men were not happy with the addition and argued for quite a while, but the chief was unwavering. They had devised a plan to rid of the newcomer as soon as he walked through the door, but when the door opened,  _he_  was not who they had been expecting at all, for  _he_  happened to be a  _she_ , and not just any  _she._

 _She_ was Juvia Lockser, a beautiful blue-haired bombshell that walked with confidence and just so happened to have been among one of the top field agents from her former agency before being transferred. She had a to-die-for physique and always wore high-slitted dresses for easy access to whatever weapon she had strapped to her inner thigh.

Natsu and Juvia hit it off right away and became great friends not long after, and Gray was almost ashamed for how his jaw nearly hit the floor when he first saw her, and Natsu teased him about it for months. Finally, after much secretive pining on both Gray's and Juvia's parts, they began going out, and here they were now.

Gray and Natsu sat at opposite sides of the party room, both near possible exits for Ivan to leave through. Any other exit or room they could easily go to as one, but the room they were next to was their priority. Juvia had the task of keeping a closer eye on Ivan. If all went well, Ivan would get close enough for Juvia to flirt with him, and perhaps he would attempt to lead her somewhere more private, where she would take action until the other two arrived, so long as the man didn't grow suspicious. Juvia and Natsu thought it was a decent plan, but Gray was more opposed to it. However, two overruled one.

" _Focus on the task, not her ass,_ " Natsu said. " _Juvia, ten o'clock. That's our guy._ "

" _Eh, his ass isn't as good as Juvia's_." She could practically hear Natsu's eye roll through the earpiece.

"Gray," Juvia half giggled, half chastised into her champagne.

" _Don't grin at me like that, jackass_ ," Natsu said, and Juvia glanced over to where Gray was, and sure enough, he was grinning across the room at Natsu, rather pleased with himself for flustering Juvia. The blunette rolled her eyes and bit her cheek to keep a smile at bay. She also had to tear her eyes away from him. She loved these more high-class missions where they got to dress up. Gray looked like a god in a tux and bowtie, and she loved showing off in different dresses for him.

" _Looks like freezerburn isn't the only one staring at you, though, Juvs,_ " Natsu continued, and Juvia just knew he meant that Ivan was looking her way. She quickly turned to a group of women and joined in on their conversation, the five of them having had a little too much to drink to even notice that she was a random stranger. A curse sounded in her ear from her boyfriend.

" _Five o'clock, Juvia. We might have trouble."_ Juvia subtly turned to her five o'clock and saw none other than her ex, and the host of the party, laughing jovially with a group of women.

Juvia had dated Bora back in high school, before he turned to a life of crime and when she wanted to be a marine biologist. There was no way he knew about her current career, but even if he saw her there tonight, it might raise some suspicion in Ivan if he were to see the two interacting.

Not to mention, Gray  _really_  was not fond of the idea of his girlfriend having dated such a scumbag and he wanted nothing more than to go over and slug him in his stupid, arrogant face.

"Calm down, darling," Juvia breathed out quietly, noticing Gray's hostile glare towards the man. "He seems too preoccupied, anyway. I won't let him see me."

" _We got other problems. Juvia, I think Ivan's suspicious._ _ **Fuck**_ _, he's coming from your left,_ " Natsu said, but Juvia was already moving, knowing just what diversion she needed to keep Ivan off her back. When she walked, she swerved just a little - enough to appear somewhat tipsy, and made her way over to her nearest partner, sensing Ivan's eyes on her back.

She wanted to go left, she really did, but that's where Ivan was coming from, and if he was suspicious and crossed her path, something bad may happen. A knife to the gut, perhaps? A gun to her lower back as he ushered her out of the room?

She couldn't go left. She had to go right, but it wasn't something she minded too much. After all, it was all part of the job. Gray would get over it.

Juvia finally reached where Natsu sat, and he played the part she hoped he would by watching her and licking his lower lip, appearing to party goers as though he had his eye on her the entire night.

Without much hesitation, Juvia gripped the lapels of his tuxedo and tugged him forward, crashing her lips to his in a passionate and heated kiss. Natsu didn't hesitate and put his hands on her waist. Right before he closed his eyes, he saw Ivan nearing. He prayed to Mavis this would work.

A choking noise sounded in both their earpieces, Gray undoubtedly trying not to spit up his drink. Then, there was a feral growl and it made Juvia smirk against Natsu's lips before she slipped her tongue into his mouth. Her boyfriend was the jealous type, even if he'd never admit it, and Juvia loved it.

This isn't the first time she'd kissed Natsu, and it probably wouldn't be the last. More than a few times they had been caught in a position where they needed to lock lips, but it always stayed within boundaries. Natsu and Juvia were great friends - had been since she started at Fairy Tail. Sure, they both wondered in the beginning if it would work out between the two of them, and it may have, but she was more drawn to Gray, and he was more drawn to a certain intel analyst.

She'd never tell Gray this, but Natsu was a great kisser. Of course, Gray was, too, and he always left her breathless, but if she had to kiss someone other than her boyfriend, it would certainly be Natsu. Not in the sense that she  _wants_  to kiss other people, but in this line of work, any sort of distraction, diversion, or what have you is highly necessary to keep in mind, no matter what it is.

Even so, she'd still kissed Gray multiple times, more so than she had with Natsu, but since both of them were a little intimidated by their own feelings in the beginning, they always kept away from being put into such positions if they could help it. Finally, Natsu decided he'd had enough and kissed her deeply and intimately on a mission one day, fully intent on pissing his friend off and hopefully forcing him to confront his feelings.

In a way, it had worked. Gray tore them apart and kissed Juvia for the first time. It wasn't magically romantic - they were in an alleyway that reeked of sewage. And, of course, they were on a  _mission_. Natsu had kissed her because the three looked suspicious sitting in an alley as they waited for their suspect they were meeting under the guise of being on their side. So, when Gray took action,  _of course_  the suspect showed up, and the three had to pretend to be in a polyamorous relationship for the rest of the mission while in the suspect's company - which was an entire week.

Needless to say, Juvia was not pleased with either of her partners.

" _I get what's going on, but Natsu, if you don't take your hand off her ass right now I will cut each and every one of your fingers off and shove them down your throat._ " The threatened agent chuckled into Juvia's mouth, but he slid his hand up to rest on her lower back. He just loved pissing his partner off.

Finally the two pulled away from one another, somewhat breathless from how long the kiss was, but remained staring at each other through half-lidded eyes for the sake of onlookers. Juvia glanced past Natsu just in time to see Ivan disappear into the nearby doorway.

"Ivan's on the move."

" _Already on my way. Was that really necessary?_ " Gray muttered as he covertly made his way to the door on their side of the room. He'd go in, and Natsu and Juvia would follow after, looking like two lovers searching for privacy.  _Mavis_ , Gray hated this mission.

"If Juvia would have stopped just to talk to Natsu, Ivan may have tried to talk to me. No decent man would interrupt a kiss."

" _You call that man decent? I can give you a very long list explaining just how_ _ **in**_ _decent that man is, and at the very top would be that he took the time to stop and watch you two for a bit._ "

"Seriously? Fucking perv," Natsu muttered.

" _Next time you say that, make sure it's not right after you finish making out with my girlfriend_." Juvia bit her lip to fight a grin, but said nothing, not wanting to poke her boyfriend's rising anger. She glanced past Natsu's head again and saw Gray slip into the next room. Juvia pulled back and straightened Natsu's bowtie, then made a show of leading him into the room as well. Once they were out of sight, Natsu drew his gun strapped to his ankle and Juvia reached into the slit of her dress to pull out a gun of her own, this one smaller to make it more comfortable, but still as powerful as any other pistol they used.

There was a corner leading to another room and they heard distant voices, but had yet to find Gray. Juvia just prayed she wouldn't find him at gunpoint again.

Suddenly, she was grabbed in the dark, her right hand being forced against the wall along with her back, leaving her unable to use her gun. Feet pressed over her own, and she couldn't use her legs to attack. Natsu was there, though, so if she were in serious trouble, there was no real threat, unless he'd been taken down, too. Lips crashed to hers, and she immediately knew who her assailant was, and why they were so attentive to keeping her limbs pinned.

" _Mavis_ , Gray!" Natsu shouted in a whisper. "I could have fucking shot you!" But he wouldn't have. Natsu had a very sensitive nose and could pick up scents like a hound dog. Still, had Gray not have been as careful, Juvia could surely have taken him out. Gray pulled away and looked all too pleased with himself.

"You got  _very_  lucky. Even so, Juvia doesn't recommend ever pulling a stunt like that again if you wish to live." With a sigh, she shook her head, though her cheeks were still flushed and her stomach was still in knots - it's just what her darling Gray did to her. "Juvia will yell at you back at HQ. For now, we need to go. Ivan is right where we need him."

"Yes, ma'am," Gray said with a wink, and Natsu rolled his eyes.

Despite everything, Juvia wouldn't trade her partners for the world, and she'd go through it all again.

It was part of the job, after all.


	2. a second chance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "So tell me, what was it like to die?"
> 
> "What are you talking about?"
> 
> "You mean you don't remember?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow it's been a while
> 
> for real I apologize for the wait! there was my whole back procedure, college, and work, and everything just got away from me. I'm still going through a terrible writer's block, but I'm really hoping for it to pass soon. I'm also getting back into the fandom cause damn I just love gruvia
> 
>  
> 
> IMPORTANT NOTES: this chapter is PRE-Gruvia relationship

Gray squinted as his eyes opened, the bright, fluorescent lights flooding his pupils painfully. Why the hell were the lights so bright? Where was he? And why was he feeling so relaxed? That was… rare.

His eyes finally adjusted after blinking for about a minute and he realized he was in a hospital room, hooked up to all sorts of machines. The door opened and in stepped a woman with long, indigo hair. She was checking a clipboard when she looked up and saw him staring at her.

“Oh! You’re awake,” she said, brown eyes brightening. She hurried over to the bed and began checking his heart rate and blood pressure. “My name’s Wendy Marvell. I’ll go and get your friends.” Before Gray could ask anything, she was gone.

When the door opened again, he saw Natsu. He looked exhausted; dark bags under his eyes, his pink hair was a scraggly mess, and his right arm was in a sling. He looked flat out awful, and Gray tried to tell him so, but his mouth was incredibly dry. He saw a cup of ice chips at his bedside and popped a few in his mouth.

“What the hell happened to you?” Gray tried, and his voice sounded weaker than he would have liked. Instead of an argument, Natsu shrugged.

“No sleep.”

“No sleep? Since when do you have a problem sleeping?” Natsu was silent, and when he reached the bed, he promptly slugged Gray in the jaw. Hard.

“What the fuck?” Gray shouted. He made to sit up more, but groaned loudly as pain shot through his side and fell back again. He raised a hand to rub at his jaw.

“That’s for being a fucking idiot,” Natsu said through clenched teeth. Gray stared at him with furrowed brows. He wracked his brain in hopes of remembering what happened on yesterday’s mission but, unfortunately, his mind was foggy and a headache was surfacing. Natsu seemed to relax after a moment, exhaustion catching up with him. He slouched in a chair next to the hospital bed with a heavy sigh. He propped his left elbow on the arm rest and held his head up with his hand. Gray decided to stop thinking about what may have happened on the mission, wanting to avoid any further strain on himself.

“Where’s Juvia?” The blunette surely had to be here. At least, that’s what he hoped

“I made her get something to eat. She’s gonna kill me when she finds out she was gone when you woke up.” So she wasn’t eating much. Must mean he’s been here a while, which explained how tired Natsu looked. It was just like the two of them to worry too much, but he’d have been the same way if either of them were in his position.

“So,” Natsu began, and Gray looked over at him again, “tell me, what was it like to die?”

Gray’s eyes widened and his brows furrowed.

“What… what are you talking about?” This time Natsu looked confused. He sat up a little straighter.

“You mean you don’t remember?” Though, if he died like Natsu mentioned, would it really be something he’d remember? Even so, he sighed and rest his head back against the pillow, closing his eyes and trying his damndest to remember. Slowly, bits and pieces began fading into his consciousness until it all came together.

 

**Three days ago**

 

“Natsu!” Gray shouted as he watched his comrade drop his gun and grab his right arm with a pained outcry. Juvia came from behind him and took out the man ready to take another shot at the pink haired agent.

“I’m fine,” Natsu said through grit teeth. “Just go after the letters!”

Gray watched him for a moment, then glanced to the direction the group was heading.

“Yeah, sure. Just… don’t die on me,” he muttered, then hurried off with Juvia, who was tucking something into her pocket.

“Medical evac is on their way. If Natsu stays where he is and doesn’t get into anymore trouble, he’ll be fine,” Juvia said as they entered a rundown building. Gray scoffed as he looked around.

“Natsu staying out of trouble? Right.” He glanced over at Juvia and his features softened at the worried look on her face, no matter how hard she tried to mask it. “Hey, he’s gonna be fine. It was just a shot to the arm. It didn’t look too bad from what I saw.”

“Right,” she said with a single nod, and he could tell she relaxed a little. “But he’ll be following us. He’s not going to stop fighting until the mission’s over.”

“He’s already right outside the building, waiting for us to go in further before he follows,” Gray muttered. He would normally turn and yell at Natsu for not staying behind, but it would be futile and only succeed in causing a scene and giving away their position to any potential threat.

As they advanced further within the shoddy structure as quietly as they could, Gray saw Juvia looking around their surroundings, a furrow to her brow.

“This place looks like it’s about to collapse any moment.”

“Wouldn’t be surprised if it did. The wind isn’t being too kind to it right now, either, so we need to get the letters and get the hell out of here,” Gray said. Juvia nodded, tightening her grip on her gun.

A shot rang out, a bullet burying itself in a nearby wooden pillar near the duo. Without hesitation, Juvia turned to the direction from which it came and fired a few rounds. Gray caught sight of movement through a collapsing archway that had been held up by said pillar. They truly did mean to tear this building apart as a way to get away.

The structures around them began to fall, and Gray made a beeline for the archway.

“Gray, what are you doing?!” Natsu shouted, making himself known.

“They’re right through there! If we don’t go in now, we’ll lose ‘em!”

“Gray, no!”

But the calls of his comrades went ignored as he reached the crumbling archway. As it fell, he only had one chance of sliding through on the ground at the risk of being crushed, but made it to the other side just in the nick of time. He heard Juvia call out for him again as he pulled himself off the ground, but continued onward in pursuit of the assailant that likely holds the letters containing information on the whereabouts of the agency’s target, Zash Caine.

Gray chased the man through the building, shooting when he thought he could incapacitate the man, but never quite hitting his target, much to his own frustration. Eventually, the man ran out of the building, and Gray followed. Finally, he got a clear shot and took the man down. He searched the man’s pockets and finally found a small stack of opened envelopes. Triumph coursed through his veins alongside the adrenaline, but he made the grave mistake of letting his guard down, which made him an easy target for another man to take a shot at him.

And his mark was not missed.

With a loud cry, Gray fell to the ground, hands clutching at his side where the bullet passed through him. His heartbeat pounded in his ears, and he only just registered the anguished scream of his name. Another shot rang through the air, and Gray braced himself for impact, but it never came. He wondered if it was Natsu or Juvia taking out the man who shot him.

“Gray! _Gray_!” The voice sounded so distant - so quiet. How far away were they? Who was calling for him?

Blue entered his vision, and despite how it was blurring, his mind filled in the spots and he saw Juvia, tears falling from her eyes and mouth moving as she supposedly called out for him.

_Juvia._

She was so beautiful. So kind and loving and smart and _so damn amazing at her job_ , and -

He loved her.

But he couldn’t tell her. He couldn’t breathe. He could hardly see.

He was losing her, and was helpless to do anything about it.

 

* * *

 

“The look on your face tells me you remember something.” Gray blinked, dry eyes burning. He didn’t know what to say, so Natsu continued. “It’s a damn good think Juvia called medical evac when she did after I got shot. Had it been called when we saw you get hit… well, you would be long gone.”

“So, for three days, Juvia and I have been here, waiting for you to wake up. Erza was in for a while, but had to get back. I’ll have to contact her soon.” At his boss’s name being spoken, Gray flinched.

“Erza -”

“Oh, she’s pissed. You’re suspended indefinitely.” Gray sighed. _Figured_ , he thought. Natsu shook his head. “What you did was perhaps the worst thing you could have done. Reinforcements were coming, Gray.”

“There may not have been time. I did what I had to do. It’s our _job_. Those letters contained critical information about where to find -”

“And what if they had killed you and you stayed dead? Or they captured you? Then we’d have been down an agent _and_ the letters! We fucking watched you _die_ , man! We were _right there_!”

Gray clenched his jaw. He registered the look on Juvia’s face as she watched him fall, broken and in disbelief, as though she were begging with her eyes for it to be a dream; a horrid nightmare that she would wake from in any second.

“We got the letters, and that’s all that matters.” Natsu slammed his fist against the arm of the chair.

“But dammit, Gray, at what cost?!”

Just then, the door to his room opened, and in stepped Juvia. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail, and she looked even more worn out than Natsu. Still, she looked so _beautiful_ and Gray found it hard to breathe once more. She was there.

“Juvia ate a yogurt. Is that good enou -” The blunette looked up and met Gray’s eyes. Her own widened, and quickly shimmered with tears.

Next thing Gray knew, he was being wrapped tightly in her arms, and he felt tears fall to his bare shoulder. He was quick to wrap his arms around her in return, but shortly after, Juvia pulled back, and swiftly slapped him across the cheek. Gray began to shout, but realized soon enough that he most certainly deserved the hit. Her brows, drawn in anger, softened as the tears came again and she grabbed him in yet another hug.

“Don’t you _ever_ do something so horribly stupid like that again,” she muttered into his neck. “Juvia will kill you.”

Gray wanted to remark with something snarky in an attempt to lighten the mood, but he couldn’t find it in him to do so. He couldn’t even bring himself to speak. Instead, he held her close, as though she’d disappear if he let go.

 

* * *

 

What was it like to die?

It was awful.

The looks on their faces were so terrifyingly haunting, and it was finally hitting him that he’d have never gotten the chance to hold Juvia again. He’d never tell her how he felt, and there would be no future for them.

He didn’t want to die - he wanted to continue living - for everyone. And he’d make sure he wouldn’t fuck up this second chance.


End file.
